U.S. patent application number 16/644986 was filed with the patent office on 2020-12-31 for linear actuator, actuator device and assembly method thereof.
This patent application is currently assigned to LIMOSS (DONGGUAN) CO., LTD.. The applicant listed for this patent is LIMOSS (DONGGUAN) CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Christian GASSNER.
Application Number | 20200408287 16/644986 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005093414 |
Filed Date | 2020-12-31 |
United States Patent
Application |
20200408287 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
GASSNER; Christian |
December 31, 2020 |
LINEAR ACTUATOR, ACTUATOR DEVICE AND ASSEMBLY METHOD THEREOF
Abstract
A linear actuator includes: a guide rail assembly; a driving
block sleeved on the guide rail assembly, where a top of the
driving block is provided with a mounting surface, the mounting
surface being disposed above the guide rail assembly and provided
with a fixing structure and a prepositioning structure; and an
electric motor, configured to actuate the driving block to slide
back and forth along a length direction of the guide rail
assembly.
Inventors: |
GASSNER; Christian;
(Dongguan, Guangdong, CN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
LIMOSS (DONGGUAN) CO., LTD. |
Dongguan, Guangdong |
|
CN |
|
|
Assignee: |
LIMOSS (DONGGUAN) CO., LTD.
Dongguan, Guangdong
CN
|
Family ID: |
1000005093414 |
Appl. No.: |
16/644986 |
Filed: |
November 28, 2018 |
PCT Filed: |
November 28, 2018 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/CN2018/117893 |
371 Date: |
March 6, 2020 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F16H 2025/204 20130101;
F16H 25/20 20130101 |
International
Class: |
F16H 25/20 20060101
F16H025/20 |
Claims
1. A linear actuator, comprising: a guide rail assembly; a driving
block, sleeved on the guide rail assembly, wherein a top of the
driving block is provided with a mounting surface, and the mounting
surface is disposed above the guide rail assembly, the mounting
surface being provided with a fixing structure and a prepositioning
structure; and an electric motor, configured to actuate the driving
block to slide back and forth along a length direction of the guide
rail assembly.
2. The linear actuator according to claim 1, wherein the fixing
structure comprises a plurality of mounting holes that are
vertically arranged on the mounting surface, wherein upper ends of
the plurality of mounting holes are located on a same plane and are
higher than the mounting surface.
3. The linear actuator according to claim 2, wherein the plurality
of mounting holes comprise a threaded hole having a hole wall
provided with a female thread and a connection hole having a hole
wall provided with a smooth surface.
4. The linear actuator according to claim 2, wherein the
prepositioning structure is a positioning wall protruding from an
edge of the mounting surface, and a top surface of the positioning
wall is higher than the upper ends of the plurality of mounting
holes.
5. The linear actuator according to claim 4, wherein an inner side
wall of the positioning wall is provided with a first blocking
slot.
6. The linear actuator according to claim 5, further comprising an
electric motor case and an end cap which are respectively disposed
at two ends of the guide rail assembly, the guide rail assembly
comprising a spindle, a slide guide, and a cable shelf; wherein the
slide guide is disposed above the spindle and runs parallel to and
is spaced apart from the spindle, and two ends of the slide guide
are respectively fixed to the end cap and to the electric motor
case, wherein the cable shelf is disposed under the spindle and
runs parallel to and is spaced apart from the spindle, and the two
ends of the cable shelf are respectively fixed to the end cap and
to the electric motor case, and wherein a first end of the spindle
is connected to the electric motor in the electric motor case and a
second end of the spindle is connected to the end cap.
7. The linear actuator according to claim 6, wherein the driving
block is sleeved onto the slide guide and the spindle at the same
time, and is configured to do a reciprocating motion along a length
direction of the slide guide and the spindle, wherein through the
driving block is defined a slide guide passage and a spindle
passage, the slide guide passage is slidably engaged with the slide
guide and the spindle passage is threadedly connected to the
spindle, wherein the slide guide passage and the spindle passage
both extend in a direction of movement of the driving block, and
the spindle passage is located below the slide guide passage.
8. The linear actuator according to claim 7, wherein the spindle
passage and the slide guide passage are spaced apart from each
other, and a lower portion of an outer peripheral surface of the
spindle passage is exposed from a bottom surface of the driving
block.
9. The linear actuator according to claim 8, wherein positioning
flanges are disposed at and outwardly protrude from opposite sides
of the lower portion of the outer peripheral surface of the spindle
passage, and a second blocking slot is formed between the
positioning flange and the bottom surface of the driving block and
is configured to be engaged with the cable shelf.
10. The linear actuator according to claim 6, wherein the slide
guide is a protective cover with an inverted U-shaped cross
section, and the slide guide covers above the spindle.
11. The linear actuator according to claim 1, wherein the outer
surface of the driving block is provided with at least one of a
cutout hole and a cutout groove that are operative to prevent
shrinkage.
12. A actuator device, comprising the linear actuator according to
claim 1, and a linkage mechanism configured to connect the linear
actuator and an external device, the linkage mechanism comprising a
connecting seat and a linkage rod, the connecting seat is connected
to a top of the driving block, wherein two ends of the linkage rod
are respectively connected to the connecting seat and to the
external device.
13. The actuator device according to claim 12, wherein the
connecting seat comprises a base fastened to a mounting surface of
the driving block, a plurality of through holes are defined through
the upper surface of the base, and the through holes are configured
in a one-to-one correspondence with the mounting holes.
14. The actuator device according to claim 13, wherein the
connecting seat further comprises a connecting arm integrally
formed with the base and bent in a direction perpendicular to the
base, wherein the connecting arm is disposed in a middle of the
upper surface of the base, and both ends of the linkage rod are
respectively hinged with the connecting arm and the external
device.
15. The actuator device according to claim 14, wherein the mounting
holes are arranged in two groups, which are symmetrically
distributed on both sides of the connecting arm.
16. The actuator device according to claim 14, wherein the base is
a plate-like structure, and the connecting arm and the base are
integrally stamped and formed by using a sheet metal.
17. A method of assembling an actuator device, the actuator device
being the actuator device according to claim 12, the method
comprising: passing the spindle in the guide rail assembly through
the spindle passage of the driving block, and passing the slide
guide in the guide rail assembly through the slide guide passage of
the driving block, to connect the guide rail assembly to the
driving block; assembling the cable shelf of the driving block
under the spindle and slidably connecting the cable shelf to the
driving block; respectively assembling the electric motor case and
the end cap onto both ends of the guide rail assembly, and mounting
the electric motor to the electric motor case, to complete
installation of the linear actuator; horizontally fastening the
assembled linear actuator to the external device; hinging the
connecting arm of the upper surface of the base of the connecting
seat to the linkage rod; pre-installing the base on the mounting
surface of the driving block; mounting the base onto the mounting
surface of the driving block by a means of locking screws from top
to bottom, wherein the plurality of through holes in the base are
coaxially aligned with the plurality of mounting holes on the
mounting surface of the driving block, and a plurality of screws
vertically inserted into the through hole are threadedly connected
to the mounting hole, enabling the connection between the linear
actuator and the linkage mechanism.
18. The actuator device of claim 12, wherein the fixing structure
comprises a plurality of mounting holes that are vertically
arranged on the mounting surface, wherein upper ends of the
plurality of mounting holes are located on a same place and are
higher than the mounting surface.
19. The actuator device of claim 18, wherein the plurality of
mounting holes comprise a threaded hole having a hole wall provided
with a female thread and a connection hole having a hole wall
provided with a smooth surface.
20. The actuator device of claim 18, wherein the prepositioning
structure is a positioning wall protruding from an edge of the
mounting surface, and a top surface of the positioning wall is
higher than the upper ends of the plurality of mounting holes.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of
actuators, for example, relates to a linear actuator, an actuator
device, and an assembly method thereof.
BACKGROUND
[0002] A linear actuator is a new type of linear actuator mainly
composed of an electric motor, a push rod, a control device and so
on, which can be considered as an extension of a rotary motor in
terms of structure. Linear actuators are mainly used in external
equipment such as electric sofas, electric table lifting rods,
industrial electric lifting systems, camera frames, projectors,
wedding systems, electric turning beds, and electric nursing beds
to drive adjustable parts for attitude adjustment.
[0003] In the related art, when the linear actuator is connected to
an external member, the actuator and a frame of the external member
are typically installed first, then the linkage rod configured to
transmit a driving force is fixed to a side wall of the driving
block on the actuator by screws. When the linear actuator designed
in this way, since the lateral spacing between a screw hole defined
in the side wall of the driving block and a beam of the frame is
relatively narrow, the frame body needs to be flipped by a preset
angle to achieve the connection between the linkage rod and the
actuator. Therefore, it becomes time-consuming and laborious when
laterally locking the linkage rod and the driving block, which
greatly affects the assembly efficiency of the linear actuator.
SUMMARY
[0004] The present disclosure provides a linear actuator that is
convenient to be connected to an external linkage mechanism, and
can effectively avoid the problems caused by the connection with
the external linkage mechanism when the mounting surface of the
driving block is disposed at a lateral side.
[0005] The present disclosure also provides an actuator device with
a compact structure, which is structurally stable, and is
convenient for assembly between the actuator and the linkage
mechanism.
[0006] An embodiment provides a linear actuator which includes: a
guide rail assembly; a driving block sleeved on the guide rail
assembly, where a top of the driving block is provided with a
mounting surface, the mounting surface being disposed above the
guide rail assembly and includes a fixing structure and a
prepositioning structure; and an electric motor configured to
actuate the driving block to slide back and forth along a length of
the guide rail assembly.
[0007] An embodiment provides an actuator device which includes the
above linear actuator, and a linkage mechanism configured to
connect the linear actuator and an external device. The linkage
mechanism includes a connecting seat configured for connecting to a
top of the driving block of the linear actuator; and a linkage rod,
two ends of which are respectively connected to the connecting seat
and the external device.
[0008] A method of assembling an actuator device and the actuator
device is the above-described actuator device, the method
includes:
[0009] passing the spindle of the guide rail assembly through the
spindle passage of the driving block, and passing the slide guide
of the guide rail assembly through the slide guide passage of the
driving block, to connect the guide rail assembly to the driving
block;
[0010] assembling the cable shelf of the driving block under the
spindle and slidably connected into the driving block;
[0011] respectively assembling the electric motor case and the end
cap onto both ends of the guide rail assembly, and housing the
electric motor to the electric motor case, to complete installation
of the linear actuator;
[0012] horizontally fastening the assembled linear actuator to the
external device;
[0013] hinging the connecting arm of the upper surface of the base
of the connecting seat to the linkage rod; and
[0014] horizontally pre-assembling the base onto the mounting
surface of the driving block. wherein a plurality of through holes
in the base are coaxially aligned with a plurality of mounting
holes on the mounting surface of the driving block. Then, a
plurality of screws vertically inserted into the through hole are
threadedly connected to the mounting holes, thereby completing the
connection between the linear actuator and the linkage
mechanism.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0015] FIG. 1 is an exploded view of an actuator device in
accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0016] FIG. 2 is a partial enlarged view of part A of FIG. 1;
[0017] FIG. 3 is an assembly view of an actuator device in
accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0018] FIG. 4 is a partial enlarged view of part B of FIG. 3;
[0019] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the driving blocking of FIG.
1; and
[0020] FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a method for assembling an
actuator device in accordance with an embodiment of the present
disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0021] In the description of the present disclosure, it should be
understood that the orientational or positional relationships
indicated by terms "thickness", "upper", "lower", "vertical",
"parallel", "bottom", "corner", and the like are based on the
orientational or positional relationships illustrated in the
drawings, which are for the mere purpose of facilitating and
simplifying the description of the present disclosure, and these
relationships do not indicate or imply that the device or element
referred to has a specific orientation and is constructed and
operated in a specific orientation, and thus it is not to be
construed as limiting the present disclosure.
[0022] In the present disclosure, unless otherwise expressly
specified and limited, the term "assembly", "connected" and the
like are to be construed in a broad sense, for example, as
permanently connected, detachably connected, or integrated;
mechanically connected or electrically connected; directly
connected to each other or indirectly connected to each other via
an intermediary; or internally connected or interactional between
two components.
[0023] As illustrated in FIG. 1, a linear actuator provided in the
present embodiment is installed in an external device, and an
adjustment member of the external device is driven by a linkage
mechanism to adjust the posture of the external device. The linear
actuator includes a guide rail assembly 1, a driving block 2
sleeved on the guide rail assembly 1, and an electric motor 3
configured to actuate the driving block 2 to slide back and forth
along a length direction of the guide rail assembly 1. A top of the
driving block 2 is provided with a mounting surface 21 which is
fastenedly connected to the linkage mechanism, the mounting surface
21 is disposed above the guide rail assembly 1, and the mounting
surface 21 is provided with a fixing structure and a prepositioning
structure. The mounting surface 21 disposed on the top surface of
the driving block 2 can facilitate the fastening connection between
the driving block 2 and the linkage mechanism, thereby solving the
problems that when the mounting surface of the driving block 2 is
disposed on a lateral side, the space is narrow and it is necessary
to invert the frame of the external device to be able to be
fastened with the external linkage mechanism.
[0024] In an embodiment, with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 5, in
this embodiment, two ends of the guide rail assembly 1 are
respectively provided with an electric motor case 4 and an end cap
5, the guide rail assembly 1 includes a spindle 11, a slide guide
12, and a cable shelf 13. A first end of the spindle 11 is
connected to the electric motor 3 assembled in the electric motor
case 4 and a second end of the spindle 11 is threadly connected to
the end cap 5. The slide guide 12 is disposed above the spindle 11
and runs parallel to and is spaced apart from the spindle 11, and
two ends of the slide guide 12 are respectively fixed to the end
cap 5 and to the electric motor case 4. The cable shelf 13 is
disposed under the spindle 11 and runs parallel to and is spaced
apart from the spindle 11, and two ends of cable shelf 13 are
respectively fixed to the end cap 5 and to the electric motor case
4.
[0025] The driving block 2 in the present embodiment is sleeved
onto the slide guide 12 and the spindle 11 at the same time, and is
configured to do a reciprocating motion along a length direction of
the slide guide 12 and the spindle 11. Along a moving direction of
the driving block 2, a slide guide passage 22 and a spindle passage
23 is defined to go through the driving block 2, and the slide
guide passage 22 is configured to be slidably engaged with the
slide guide 12. And the spindle passage 23 is located below the
slide guide passage 22 and is threadedly connected with the spindle
11.
[0026] In order to avoid interference between the spindle passage
23 and the slide guide passage 22, in this embodiment, the spindle
passage 23 is configured to be separated from the slide guide
passage 22, and a lower portion of an outer peripheral surface of
the spindle passage 23 is exposed from a bottom surface of the
driving block 2.
[0027] With the linear actuator of the above structural design, in
order to facilitate the installation of the linkage mechanism
connected to the driving block 2 above the guide rail assembly 1,
in the present embodiment, a mounting surface 21 is disposed on the
top surface of the driving block 2, and the mounting surface 21 is
provided with a fixing structure and a prepositioning
structure.
[0028] In an embodiment, the fixing structure is a plurality of
mounting holes that are vertically opened in the mounting surface.
End faces of upper ports of the plurality of mounting holes are
disposed on the same plane and are higher than the mounting surface
21. The plurality of mounting holes includes a threaded hole 211
and a connection hole 212, the inner wall of the threaded hole 211
is provided with a female screw, but the inner wall of the
connection hole 212 is a smooth surface. By means of locking screws
from top to bottom, the quick installation of the linkage mechanism
and the above-mentioned driving block 2 can be conveniently
implemented from above the mounting surface 21. Whether using an
electric screwdriver or an ordinary screwdriver, it saves time and
effort, thereby solving the problems that when the mounting hole is
disposed on a lateral side of the driving block 2, the space is
narrow and it is necessary to flip the frame to be able to realize
the installation.
[0029] In an embodiment, in order to facilitate the linkage
mechanism to be accurately positioned when engaged with the
mounting hole on the mounting surface 21 of the driving block 2. In
the present embodiment, the prepositioning structure includes a
first positioning wall 213a and a second positioning wall 213b both
protruding from an edge of the mounting surface 21. The top surface
of the first positioning wall 213a and the top surface of the
second positioning wall 213b are both higher than the end surface
of the upper port of a threaded hole 211 and the end surface of the
upper port of the connection hole 212. In installation, the lower
bottom surface of the connecting seat of the linkage mechanism can
be closely attached to the end surface of the upper port of the
screw hole 211 and the connection hole 212, and forming an
effective limit on the two edges of the connecting seat through the
first positioning wall 213a and the second positioning wall 213b on
both sides of the mounting surface 21 to prevent the connecting
seat from moving left and right when fastened with the driving
block 2, then effectively improve the accuracy of positioning, and
the assembly efficiency of the connecting seat and the driving
block.
[0030] In an embodiment, a first blocking slot (not shown) may be
further disposed on an inner sidewall of the first positioning wall
213a and an inner sidewall of the second positioning wall 213b, the
first blocking slot engages with the edge of the connecting seat of
the linkage mechanism. That is, the edge of the connecting seat of
the linkage mechanism slides into the first blocking slot along the
length of the first blocking slot. Then the connecting seat and the
mounting hole are locked by the screws 7, thereby realizing the
quick connection between the external linkage mechanism and the
driving block 2.
[0031] In addition, in the present embodiment, in order to prevent
the driving block 2 from shrinking due to uneven thickness in
processing, in the present embodiment, the outer surface of the
driving block 2 is provided with a cutout hole 214 and a cutout
groove 215 for preventing shrinkage, and is also capable of
effectively improving the strength of the driving block 2 through a
plurality of ribs formed between the adjacent cutout hole 214 and
the adjacent cutout groove 215.
[0032] In an embodiment, in order to facilitate the installation of
the cable shelf 13, the opposite sides of the lower portion of the
outer peripheral surface of the spindle passage 23 are outwardly
convexly provided with a positioning flange 231. And the
positioning flange 231 and the bottom surface of the driving block
2 define a second blocking slot 24 configured to be engaged with
the cable shelf 13. In addition, in order to reduce the dust
falling into the spindle 11, the slide guide 12 in the embodiment
can be as a protective cover having an inverted U-shaped cross
section, and the slide guide 12 is disposed above the spindle
11.
[0033] The present embodiment further provides an actuator device,
as illustrated in FIG. 2, the actuator device includes the
above-mentioned linear actuator, and a linkage mechanism configured
to connect the linear actuator and an external device. The linkage
mechanism includes a connecting seat 61 and a linkage rod 62. The
connecting seat 61 is configured for connecting to a top of the
driving block 2 of the linear actuator, the two ends of the linkage
rod 62 are respectively connected to the connecting seat 61 and the
external device.
[0034] The connecting seat 61 in the present embodiment includes a
base 611 that is configured to be fastened to the mounting surface
21 of the driving block 2. A plurality of through holes 6111 are
defined through the upper surface of the base 611 and the through
holes 6111 are configured in a one-to-one correspondence with the
threaded holes 211 and the connection holes 212. Therefore, the
screws can be easily fastened to the mounting holes through the
through hole 6111 from above the mounting surface 21, thereby
conveniently and quickly facilitating the fastening between the
connecting seat 61 and the driving block 2. Which solves the
problems that when the mounting hole is disposed on a lateral side
of the driving block 2, the space is narrow and it is necessary to
invert the frame to be able to realize the fastening between the
connecting seat 61 and the driving block 2.
[0035] In the present embodiment, the connecting seat 61 further
includes a connecting arm 612 integrally provided with the base and
bent in a direction perpendicular to the base, the connecting arm
612 is disposed at a middle portion of the upper surface of the
base 611, and both ends of the linkage rod 62 are respectively
hinged with the connecting arm 612 and the external device. The
external device in the present embodiment may be provided as a sofa
back, or may be provided as a table and chair capable of adjusting
the height or angle.
[0036] The base 611 in the present embodiment is designed in a
plate shape, and the connecting arm 612 and the base 611 are
integrally formed by stamping with a sheet metal. And the through
holes 6111 are configured in two groups, which are symmetrically
distributed on both sides of the connecting arm 612, thereby
effectively improving the stability and reliability of the
connection between the base 611 and the driving block 2.
[0037] The embodiment further provides a method for assembling an
actuator device, and the above-mentioned actuator device is
assembled by the method. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the method
includes:
[0038] In step 110, pass the spindle 11 of the guide rail assembly
11 through the spindle passage 23 of the driving block 2, and pass
the slide guide 12 through the slide guide passage 22 to connect
the guide rail assembly 1 into the driving block 2;
[0039] In step 120, assemble the cable shelf 13 under the spindle
11 and slidably connected into the driving block 2;
[0040] In step 130, respectively assemble the electric motor case 4
and the end cap 5 onto both ends of the guide rail assembly 1, and
assemble the electric motor 3 to the electric motor case 4, to
complete installation of the linear actuator;
[0041] In step 140, horizontally fasten the assembled linear
actuator to the external device;
[0042] In a step 150, hinge the connecting arm 612 to the linkage
rod 62;
[0043] In step 140, pre-install the base 611 on the mounting
surface 21 of the driving block 2; and
[0044] In step 170, assemble the base 611 to the mounting surface
of the driving block 2 through locking the screw from top to
bottom. The plurality of through holes 6111 on the base 611 are
coaxially aligned with the plurality of mounting holes on the
mounting surface 21 of the driving block 2, and is threadedly
connected to the mounting hole through screws 7 that is vertically
inserted into the through hole 6111, thereby realizing the
connection between the linear actuator and the linkage
mechanism.
[0045] Installed by the above method, by a means of locking screws
from top to bottom, it can be conveniently realized the quick
installation between the linkage mechanism and the above-mentioned
driving block 2 from above the mounting surface 21. Whether using
an electric screwdriver or an ordinary screwdriver, it saves time
and effort, thereby solving the problems that when the mounting
hole is disposed on a lateral side of the driving block 2, the
space is narrow and it is necessary to invert the frame.
* * * * *